Photos: Supporters rally for Seattle Children’s expansion

Update: Friends of Seattle Children’s sent over some photos of today’s rally. See them below.

They won’t take no for an answer.

One week after a Seattle hearing examiner recommended that Seattle Children’s Hospital not be approved for a $1 billion expansion, hospital supporters will rally at City Hall today to demand that local officials think again.

Calling the decision “just plain wrong,” the hospital has said it would consider leaving Seattle if the expansion falls through.

“I am disappointed with the Hearing Examiner’s recommendation to deny Seattle Children’s expansion plans and I’ve instructed the Department of Planning and Development to appeal the recommendation to the City Council,” Mayor Greg Nickels said Friday about the decision.

The expansion would more than double the number of beds and nearly triple the facility’s size.

“Children’s must grow and the need for beds has not changed,” read a statement by the group of supporters who organized the rally.

The rally starts at noon at City Hall. The City Council is scheduled to discuss the issue this fall.

Photos from the event

Friends of Seattle Children’s estimates that about 400 people turned out to support the hospital in its expansion effort. Here are a couple pics they sent over. The man in the third picture is Phil Smart Sr., a longtime volunteer at Children’s. All pictures are courtesy of Friends of Seattle Children’s Hospital.